Meng Hao smiled indifferently, apparently not concerned at all. Success or failure didn’t matter, as long as he got to try. What was the point of asking any questions? After all, he had eternal qualifications to participate in this legacy trial by fire.

This time he didn’t succeed, but the next time, a few hundred years from now… who was to say that he would fail again?

Most importantly, he had discovered his path to Spirit Severing. Meng Hao was sure that by shrinking his Cultivation base, by combining everything into one, Spirit Severing would be right in front of him.

“Your path to Spirit Severing has opened,” said Ke Jiusi to Meng Hao, his voice low. “When your Cultivation base is completely consolidated, then you can transform it into a Severing blade. You’ll either live, and sever out your Domain, or die, and sever your life.”

Meng Hao nodded. He had already come to understand this. That was definitely his path to Spirit Severing. Grind and polish his Cultivation base down until it became an illusory blade. After that blade appeared, he could begin the Severing.

The difference between life and death all lay in that blade!

“What Cultivators cultivate is both life and death,” said Meng Hao. “I’ve walked such a path for a long time. Living or dying doesn’t really matter. Life’s a journey; the places you go, the things you see, those are the most important things. Live without regrets.” He laughed, his eyes shining brightly.

A look of admiration appeared in Ke Jiusi’s eyes, and he also laughed.

“You’ve already found your path,” he said. With that, he waved his arm, causing a green wind to spring up. It picked up Meng Hao and began to carry him out of the Demon Immortal Sect. “Time to leave. When father gave his approval of you, you became my little brother. I, too, was moved by your Dao. Perhaps one day in the future, the two of us will meet again in the starry sky!

“I hope that when that day arrives, you will have already reached Immortal Ascension!” Even as Ke Jiusi’s voice echoed about, Meng Hao was carried by the green wind far away from the Demon Immortal Sect.

At the same time, Ke Jiusi's gaze came to fall upon Zhixiang, who still stood off in the distance.

“We’ll be old friends from now on,” said Ke Jiusi. “Demon Immortal Body…. With people like you, I can feel good about the Demon Immortal Sect.” As he looked at her, his eyes seemed to fill with reminiscence. It was impossible to tell who he was thinking about, but he sighed and then waved a sleeve. A jade slip flew out toward Zhixiang, which she quickly grabbed. Then, the green wind picked her up and, along with Meng Hao, she began to be carried away.

“Place that object in your Sect’s Ancestral Hall,” said Ke Jiusi coolly, “and have the disciples prostrate to it. It can stave off extermination for ten thousand years.”

Meng Hao and Zhixiang continued to speed away within the green wind.

Meng Hao looked back at Ke Jiusi, and couldn’t help but think back to all of the things that had happened since he arrived in the Demon Immortal Sect.

“Seal up the Demon Immortal Sect,” said Ke Jiusi, his voice echoing out. “Destiny has already been severed, now we adjourn for a few centuries....” Meng Hao watched him as he sat down gloomily cross-legged on the fourth of true spirit Night’s horns.

At the same time, true spirit Night gave Meng Hao a deep look. Then, its enormous head began to sink down. Its eyes slowly closed, and by the time the head sank down completely… the seven horns rose up above the land!

Endless amounts of dust flew about. It was almost like time was running in reverse. Everything returned to its original position. In the blink of an eye, the seven horns grew thick and bulky, and were soon seven mountain peaks once again!

There were corpses on the mountain peaks just like before, not one more or less than before. The restrictive spells were in place just like before. It was like nothing had changed at all. The lands below also returned to how they were before. In moments, everything looked exactly as it had when Meng Hao first arrived.

Ke Jiusi sat cross-legged atop the Fourth Peak. His back was to Meng Hao; he was facing an area just outside the Seventh Peak, the location of Ke Yunhai’s tomb….

Boom!

Meng Hao felt as if he had just slammed into an invisible wall. As he sank into it, everything went black. When he came to, he was outside the Demon Immortal Sect.

Meng Hao said nothing. Zhixiang had emerged along with him, and when she looked back, her expression was one of pain and complex emotions as she looked at the illusory Demon Immortal Sect.

Countless tiny fragments of rock and stone suddenly flew out to surround Meng Hao and Zhixiang, quickly transforming into a new river of stars. Meng Hao was still gazing at the Demon Immortal Sect when a tremor ran through the whole river of stars, and it began to carry him and Zhixiang away. It rolled out like a bolt of white silk.

Meng Hao said nothing as the Demon Immortal Sect drew farther and farther away. Zhixiang likewise maintained her silence. They got farther and farther away until soon, the Bridge of Immortal Treading became visible among the stars.

“I need to go,” said Zhixiang suddenly. She looked at Meng Hao.

He turned to look at her. “Take care of yourself on your journey.”

Their eyes met, and Zhixiang gave a warm smile.

“Thank you. My promise to you hasn’t changed. I truly believe that one day in the future, we will meet again. I look forward to finding out where we will meet, under what circumstances, or, perhaps I should say… in what identity.” Although she smiled, a flicker of farewell could be seen in her eyes.

With a final deep look at him, Zhixiang slapped her bag of holding. A person flew out from inside. It was a woman, her features beautiful, obviously quite young. This was none other than the Holy Daughter of the Five Poisons Tribe, Zhao Youlan.

Her eyes were closed, and she wasn’t moving. There were still signs of life detectable, but she was obviously in a state of dormancy. From the ripples of her Cultivation base, it was obvious that she was… of the great circle of the Nascent Soul stage.

“This girl and I are connected by destiny,” said Zhixiang lightly. “I possessed her fleshly body that year, but I didn’t destroy her soul. I promised her that when it was time to part, I would bestow her with the good fortune of a great circle Nascent Soul Cultivation base. [1. Zhixiang made the promise to Zhao Youlan in chapter 474]

“By the time I acquired the Demon Immortal Body, I had already returned her body to her. Would you mind taking her back to the lands of South Heaven with you?”

Meng Hao looked at Zhao Youlan, then back at Zhixiang. He nodded.

With a final look at Meng Hao, Zhixiang turned and then flew out from the river of stars. As she emerged out into the starry sky, a glow appeared beneath her feet that turned into a flying shuttle.

The flying shuttle was surrounded by swirling lights as it rapidly expanded to a size of nearly three hundred meters. Demonic Qi pulsed off of it in ripples, distorting the images of the stars and causing ghost images to spring up.

She turned to look back at him and said, “Okay little Meng Hao, I’m gonna take off now. Don’t miss me too much! Of course, if you really miss me, then once you have the ability to fly through the stars, then come to Planet East Victory. Who's to say whether or not I might let you have some alone time with me?” She laughed. Right now, she seemed to have returned to the way she was when Meng Hao met her for the first time.

Seductive as silk, eyes charming and amorous, she smiled and then transformed into a beam of light which shot off into the distance.

Meng Hao smiled and shook his head. For the most part, he and Zhixiang were partners in cooperation. However, after everything that had happened in the Demon Immortal Sect, gradually they had become friends.

He looked away from her retreating figure and then sat down cross-legged on a nearby stone fragment. Zhao Youlan’s eyes were still closed as she lay next to him, slumbering. The two of them remained in the river of stars as it shot through the starry sky. Soon, everything became quiet.

Meng Hao stared out at the endless stars, and soon, a look of anticipation appeared in his eyes.

“Cultivation. Immortal Ascension. Flying among the stars…. It’s all a journey. If I can leave the lands of South Heaven and enter the starry sky, my journey would be even more wonderful.

“At that time, Planet South Heaven would only be a bit of scenery along my way.” Suddenly, Meng Hao smiled.

“My gains in the Demon Immortal Sect were tremendous!” he thought. He looked down at his bag of holding.

“Mountain Consuming Incantation, Nine Heavens Destruction, Nine Heavens Treasured Body Seal…. Plus there’s the Withering Flame Demon Magic True Self Dao. All of these divine abilities are there in my mind, as well as quite a few other minor arts.

“In addition, I have a good collection of lost treasures from the Demon Immortal Sect, as well as Ji Mingfeng’s bags of holding. Most important of all is the sword tip from that Wooden Time Sword!” When the thought of the sword tip, his heart palpitated with eagerness.

“That sword tip has 30,000 years of Time power. If I actually used it, it wouldn’t truly be 30,000 years, but it would still be shocking.” He rubbed his bag of holding, his eyes gleaming brightly.

“And then, there’s the precious treasure from the Fourth Plane, the continental mirror!! There are countless magical items stored inside, as well as Demon Weapon Lonelytomb, and the shadows of those three Paragons!

“The continental mirror is a precious treasure of true spirit Night. Taking it away was what awakened Night. Considering how valuable Night considered the treasure to be, well, it only serves to prove that my copper mirror has a mysterious origin.” When he thought about the transformation the copper mirror had experienced, he once again had the feeling that his gains in this adventure had been exceeding.

“All the acquisitions will surely attract quite a bit of prying. All the other remaining South Heaven Cultivators are cruel and unscrupulous, and definitely have ill intentions. Their Sects and Clans will quickly learn about everything that happened.” His eyes flickered.

“As for how much all those people owe me, if you add it together, it’s more than ten million Spirit Stones! Which means that, right now, the main thing I’m lacking… is Spirit Stones!” He gave a cold harumph, but then thought to the debt pledges he had, and a brilliant smile appeared on his face.

“The debtor must repay his debts; that is in line with the principles of Heaven and Earth! They can’t escape that fact! Although, to be the most safe, I can’t stay in the Black Lands or the Western Desert.” As he sat there thoughtfully, many thoughts raced through his head.

Time passed. Meng Hao sat there cross-legged, looking at the river of stars and the starry sky. Soon, he caught sight of a dot of light that was none other than Planet South Heaven.

At the same time, he saw that, revolving around planet South Heaven was a shocking altar.

As soon as he caught sight of the altar, he got a clear sense of a cold, gloomy aura. The aura swept toward him, but was blocked by the river of stars, and could not reach him.

As the river of stars neared Planet South Heaven, Meng Hao stood up. He stared at South Heaven as it rapidly neared. Soon, he could see the lands below. He saw the Milky Way Sea, the Southern Domain and the Western Desert.

As they shot downward, Zhao Youlan slowly began to regain consciousness. Before she could open her eyes, Meng Hao leaped up, shooting out from within the river of stars into the highest levels of the sky above South Heaven. Then, he transformed into a beam of light that shot off into the distance.

There was a lot of pressure at such high altitude, but Meng Hao had been able to deal with the pressure at the 18,000 meter mark in the trial by fire of Lord Li’s legacy. This pressure was nothing he would care about. He moved at incredible speed and quickly disappeared.

The river of stars began to rumble as it carried the confused Zhao Youlan down toward the lands below. As Meng Hao sped off into the distance, a cold, hoarse voice suddenly could be heard, accompanied by a slight chuckle.

“The pup from all those years ago has already grown up! His realm of Perfection really is perfect. I’ve been waiting for a long time…. It wasn’t in vain that I covered your tracks before to confuse the Ji Clan. Child, the time has come to present your Perfect stratum to me.”

Whether you are a longtime fan of ISSTH or still in the middle of reading it, you will probably benefit from this video on the subject Immortal, God, Demon, Devil, Ghost: Definitions, Similarities, Differences.